Editing 1782: Team Chat
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Although one-on-one "talk" programs date back to 1960s mainframes, {{w|Internet Relay Chat}} (IRC) was one of the first real-time group communication protocols, invented in 1988. While it remains the format on which most later apps were based, the convenience and accessibility of other protocols such as AIM and Skype gradually exceeded IRC in popularity. Many users took to the new environments, but others preferred the old and familiar, hence schisms between groups began to grow. | Although one-on-one "talk" programs date back to 1960s mainframes, {{w|Internet Relay Chat}} (IRC) was one of the first real-time group communication protocols, invented in 1988. While it remains the format on which most later apps were based, the convenience and accessibility of other protocols such as AIM and Skype gradually exceeded IRC in popularity. Many users took to the new environments, but others preferred the old and familiar, hence schisms between groups began to grow. | ||
| − | [https://www.skype.com Skype] and [https://slack.com Slack] are both proprietary centralized communication protocols (usually used through their official clients). Skype focuses mainly on voice communication, be it for personal or business use, and own installable client, while Slack relies almost entirely on text communication, focuses on work communication and works completely well in its own web client, even though official desktop and mobile clients are available as well. Slack also features a huge customizability (bots, plugins) possibly inspired by IRC, and its users need to create communication teams, working inside subdomains at *.slack.com. It is possible to connect to Slack via IRC as well, using | + | [https://www.skype.com Skype] and [https://slack.com Slack] are both proprietary centralized communication protocols (usually used through their official clients). Skype focuses mainly on voice communication, be it for personal or business use, and own installable client, while Slack relies almost entirely on text communication, focuses on work communication and works completely well in its own web client, even though official desktop and mobile clients are available as well. Slack also features a huge customizability (bots, plugins) possibly inspired by IRC, and its users need to create communication teams, working inside subdomains at *.slack.com. It is possible to connect to Slack via IRC as well, using a [https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/201727913-Connect-to-Slack-over-IRC-and-XMPP gateway feature], if allowed by the team's admin. |
Randall here seems to be commenting on the persistence of IRC; while generally considered to be ancient software in comparison to newer and still-competing protocols, its endless customizability has led some people to support it above all others. | Randall here seems to be commenting on the persistence of IRC; while generally considered to be ancient software in comparison to newer and still-competing protocols, its endless customizability has led some people to support it above all others. | ||
| − | Extrapolating for the sake of humor, the joke here lies in a particularly uncommon but memorable type of Internet denizen: even in a far-off distant future where the world's technology has led to a superlative messaging network encompassing all people in some supposed, incredible bliss, there is always | + | Extrapolating for the sake of humor, the joke here lies in a particularly uncommon but memorable type of Internet denizen: even in a far-off distant future where the world's technology has led to a superlative messaging network encompassing all people in some supposed, incredible bliss, there is always - in Randall's vision - going to be That IRC Guy. This might also be a reference to the scenarios in science fiction stories such as Isaac Asimov's {{w|Gaia_(Foundation_universe)#Galaxia|concept of Galaxia}} in the Foundation novels, or the concept of a merged human-computer intelligence as in The Last Question. [http://multivax.com/last_question.html], the concept of which is most notably highlighted by this line: |
''[...] One by one Man fused with AC, each physical body losing its mental identity in a manner that was somehow not a loss but a gain. [...]'' | ''[...] One by one Man fused with AC, each physical body losing its mental identity in a manner that was somehow not a loss but a gain. [...]'' | ||
| − | In the title text, both {{w|GNU_Screen|screen}} and {{w|Tmux|tmux}} are unix programs that help you multitask while working in terminal, and {{w|Irssi|irssi}} and {{w|WeeChat|weechat}} are both communication clients supporting mainly IRC, capable of working in a terminal environment. Tmux is a newer and apparently more user-friendly project, complete with handy menus and titles, while screen is something of an industry standard, but relatively difficult to use – you need to know what you are doing or read help before | + | In the title text, both {{w|GNU_Screen|screen}} and {{w|Tmux|tmux}} are unix programs that help you multitask while working in terminal, and {{w|Irssi|irssi}} and {{w|WeeChat|weechat}} are both communication clients supporting mainly IRC, capable of working in a terminal environment. Tmux is a newer and apparently more user-friendly project, complete with handy menus and titles, while screen is something of an industry standard, but relatively difficult to use – you need to know what you are doing or read help before use, otherwise you get lost and frustrated. [http://superuser.com/questions/236158/tmux-vs-screen] The same it is with the newer, more feature-packed and user-friendly weechat vs industry-standard, harder-to-use irssi. [https://www.quora.com/IRC-Which-do-you-prefer-irssi-or-weechat-and-why] |
| − | Basically, that ''one'' guy is a hardcore UNIX geek who doesn't use any graphical user interface, and in | + | Basically, that ''one'' guy is a hardcore UNIX geek who doesn't use any graphical user interface, and in 2078 he still chooses to use terminal-emulation-based tools. |
Timing of this strip follows the [https://irssi.org/2017/01/05/irssi-1.0.0-released/ release of irssi version 1.0.0]. | Timing of this strip follows the [https://irssi.org/2017/01/05/irssi-1.0.0-released/ release of irssi version 1.0.0]. | ||
| − | Randall touched on similar themes | + | Randall has touched on similar themes before in [[927: Standards]]. |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
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:Cueball: But three people refuse to quit IRC and connect via Gateway. | :Cueball: But three people refuse to quit IRC and connect via Gateway. | ||
| − | :[A black panel with white text and drawings. The main body of text is above the singularity, a starburst around a circle with two more broken lined circles around the starburst. To the right another Cueball-like guy floats in space with his laptop computer, typing on the keyboard. A frame, that is white inside, is over the top border of the panel has a caption: ] | + | :[A black panel with white text and drawings. The main body of text is above a the singularity, a starburst around a circle with two more broken lined circles around the starburst. To the right another Cueball-like guy floats in space with his laptop computer, typing on the keyboard. A frame, that is white inside, is over the top border of the panel has a caption: ] |
:2051 | :2051 | ||
:Narration: All consciousnesses have merged with the Galactic Singularity, | :Narration: All consciousnesses have merged with the Galactic Singularity, | ||
